Horrific Blunder

 Saturday, the shortest day of the year is here.  It's still dark outside, and the temp is around 32 (F), that 0 for those of you, which is the rest of the world, using Celsius.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be a tad colder, but not much, and then the warm-up begins.  Our temps are expected to zoom back up into the mid 40s (F).  Now, won't that be nice.

Yesterday was.. well... I ate a frozen pizza, so I'd guess you have to say it was one of those days. I also managed to get a number of other things accomplished, including cleaning the tank in the living room.  While I didn't dehydrate anything, I did buy cilantro that I'll pop into the dehydrator while I'm at work.

Last evening, after I told her about my dehydrating food stuffs and buying bulk quantities of rice, she said "you really are taking this seriously."  Well, of course I am.  It never hurts to be prepared.  The food isn't going to go bad anytime soon, so I can eat it anytime, even if prices don't go through the roof.

I'm also spent a bit of time working on the final draft of The Body in History.  I did some changes to chapter one, read through the changes, and then changed them back to the original version.  The arrival at Delphi needed to be changed because I'd written before actually being in Delphi, and Delphi is different from other cities.

Of course, extending the budget has been in the news a lot, and because of it, America has realized that Elon Musk own the Orange Anus.  Supposedly this hasn't been photoshopped, however.... let's be honest, we all know that Elon Musk has a big head, but I doubt very much if it's this big.  

Musk's biggest problem is that he expects everyone else to bow down in front of him.  As I said, he wants to be Emperor of the World.  What he needs more than anything else is to have his ass taxed to the max.  When you read that he, and Bezos had dinner with Trump you need to understand that Orangey is only the tool they believe will help them leverage their power in the United States.  Trump has command of the military, something neither of them have.  This is why he wants to put Hegseth in charge of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Hegseth is the nut job they need.  And if you're concerned that I left out Zuck, don't be, he's as much a part of this as the other billionaires Orangey wants installed in his cabinet.  The only way this will work, however, is if Americans stay complacent as the Billionaires Club starts stripping them of their rights. Being rich doesn't keep them from being stupid.  The arrogance of their own wealth has taken them so far from reality, they can not conceive of the horrific blunder they are stumbling towards.  

Oddly Impressive

 Here it is, Friday, the temps are below freezing and forecasters are calling for snow.  Not a lot.  Maybe an inch?  I would like maybe three or four inches so he could have fun running around and discover snow fun, though I doubt that will happen.  After this weekend, long range forecasts are calling for temps to warm up, and rain is in the forecast, not snow.

And I did work yesterday.  Jon, the PT who's been giving me advice for the PT aspects of Max's character in the books is back from his unpaid internship.  I was surprised that he had to pay for 4 months of training.  You'd think he'd at least get a stipend, but nope, his diagnosis and labor was free.  I think that's sucks.  He's looking forward to meeting Howie.  

I did sell some blinds to one of my customers and I sold a flooring measure.  My supervisors stopped by and told me that the store was really hurting on leads and signing people up for credit cards.  As just about everyone in the known universe knows, if a customer brings up the credit card application, I will sign them up, otherwise I'm silent.  As for getting a lead on an installation?  This is not the season for leads.  No one wants to deal with construction in the winter.  Besides, I do believe many people are growing leery about making large ticket purchases with the Elonia Musk, and his puppet, the Orange Anus, taking control of the country in 3 weeks.

And, speaking of Elonia and Orangey, I think this is appropriate.

Of course, the incompetent Republican party is going to shut down the government 5 days before Christmas because Elonia Musk didn't like the budget.  You have to remember, Elonia was born wealthy, and raised wealthy, and as such has no concept of a reality other than that of a spoiled twelve-year-old child who doesn't need to stamp his foot to get what he wants.  No Democrats voted for Plan B, and now Plan C is in the work.  Part of the problem is that Republicans hold the most miniscule of majorities in the house and so believe they can exclude Democrats budget creation process.  Another big problem is that Elonia and his broken marionette of man Orangey, want the Debt Ceiling gone in order for them to give themselves another big tax break. And, as Chip Roy, a Right Wing Extremist, railed against it yesterday shouting loudly that doing so was going to add another $5 trillion to the deficit in 2 years.  

And there was a bit of humor yesterday.  Just about everybody, except Republicans, new this new administration was going to be a shit show, however, as Rachel Vindman put it, "to have it start so early is oddly impressive."

As far as Super Heroes Go

It's Monday.  Someone from UGI is going to come check out my gas line, not because there's a leak, rather this has more to do with making sure no leaks occur which is why it happens every 4 or 5 years.  I've already told them I have big dogs.  Not everybody likes 180 lbs of dogs.  Some might feel threatened.  I do not doubt that, if someone behaved aggressively towards me, Lily would bite.  Seig?  He'd just punch them out.  He's a Boxer, remember?  A really... big... Boxer.
I went to see "Captain Marvel" last night.  It was good.  Not great.  Different from the other super hero movies the Marvel Studios put out in that, like "Captain America," there were fewer big, action set pieces.   Another thing which made it different was the time period - early 90's - well before Chris Evans, as Steve Rogers, unfurled his naked torso to the world to become my most favoritest super hero of all time.  "Captain Marvel" should have been the lead off film rather than "Iron Man."  Instead, they waited until just before "Endgame," the final film in the 'Infinity War Trilogy.'  Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but you don't wait until this late in the game to bring in the game changer.  Oh, and if you're a Jude Law fan, you do get to see him with his shirt unbuttoned.  Brie keeps her clothes on.

And the Idiot Jerk is handing over his budget to congress today.  Ooohhh.  In addition to the monies he wants for his racist Wall, I understand his administration is also asking for a 5% cut in domestic spending.  I didn't see any details concerning which programs the Republicans want to slash, but they, themselves don't mean that much.  What really needs to shock people is that 5%.  That's a very high percentage.  Oh, I did see, they are going to increase spending for military health benefits... that's to give the Army, Navy & Marines a vested interest in keeping him in power.  I suspect these figures are merely a smokescreen to keep people from talking about the fact that North Korea is preparing to launch a rocket.  Ooops.   Wonder how that's going to effect the stock market.

Dirt

So, here it is Monday, the start of the work week... but not for me.  This is day number 5.  Tomorrow will be day number 6.  Of course, I have off for 9 days after tomorrow and to be perfectly honest, the idea has occurred that perhaps my back might be in a weakened state tomorrow morning and I might have to make it 10 days off... in a row.  I do get these notions from time to time but rarely follow through... mostly because I hate using my personal time.  This is not the case for other people.  Yesterday, for example 2 of my fellow associates called off leaving me by myself in a department that's supposed to be double staffed.   There was much fun and hilarity... well, not exactly, but I did survive.
Politically speaking, yesterday seemed to be pretty quiet - the Idiot Jerk is on vacation but we know that's horseshit.  He's going to be doing what he always does, sit on his dais waiting for his supporters to kiss his ring... oh, and watching Fox News, the only major media outlet to kiss his ass.  In fact I do believe they're all on vacation, all of those GOP sycophants gone home to their hate hovels to brood about September when more shit is going to hit the fan.  Sure, they say they're going to come back and work on Tax Reform (that's what they call tax cuts for the 1%), but that will never happen.   What they're really going to be doing is working on funding the government because it's "running out of money."  Catchy phrase, isn't that?  "Running out of money."  Almost musical.  "Running out of money."  A taunt, almost toward the party that fails to govern.
Oh, and I see Chris and Anna are splitting up.  Supposedly social media is going crazy...  prioritizing the breakup of a celebrity marriage over every thing else that's going on in the world.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that since Chris has lost weight and starting hitting the gym he's transformed himself in a ginger extraordinary...  but his getting a divorce just turns he and his wife into ordinary people... unless there's dirt... and then they're just ordinary people with dirt.

Ah well, time to head off to the store.

Weighing in on the GOP, boobs and all

So, I ordered a Garmin Scale yesterday which should be arriving tomorrow.  As for my Worthings' scale?  I'll probably give that away.  My biggest issue with that scale was the reliance on percentages for recording things like fat weight, water weight and muscle weight on the app.  Example:  you  have a great cardio and sweat like a pig (something I tend to do) and then you weigh yourself.  On the scale you're going to get the weight for all 3 in pounds however the app converts lbs to  % so at that point in time you water % can be lower but that's going to make either your muscle or your fat % higher.  If you're trying to build muscle and reduce fat, the only relatively clear picture you're going to get of your muscle weight is when you weigh yourself which makes the app useless.   I guess the Worthings (Nokia) scale and their app are fine if you're not really serious.

And I saw that McTurtle pulled his health disaster before letting it come to a failing vote.  Well, that was to be expected.  Brookings has a really good take on just how ugly that piece of legislature is... was.  And when those idiots come back in early in late July they're going to have to start working on the budget, which they booted way back when they didn't have enough votes to pass the wretched thing.  And if you think the Idiot in the White House and his boobs had problems with health care, wait until they try to start dancing through that field of land mines.  Can't you hear the Idiot now?  "Paul... Paul, walk over that way, see if you blow off one of your career legs... oh, and take off your shirt, if everyone's looking at your chest they might not notice you're missing one of your fiscal feet."  Just wait and see if this country doesn't run out of money.

Threesome

Last night, after a long day at work, and a quick hour of gaming, I went up to bed to discover the sheets asunder.  Evidently Big Seig and Lily had invited a friend over for a threesome...  and the friend was still there!

How's that for a bit of levity?

Anyway, I saw in Bloomberg this AM that the country is going to stay financed until at least September.  Of course, to do so they flushed a number of the Idiot's promises down the toilet.. where they belong.  The Wall is gone.  The Military is going to get a lot, but not nearly as much as the Idiot bragged he was going to spend.  And I'm sure this is going to piss off the Conservatives... a lot.  In fact, from what I've been reading, the Democrats have carried the day.  His followers, no doubt, will roll over too since they love this guy even though he's turning out to be a failure when it comes to fulfilling his promises.  Wouldn't that be a shame, if that was all they wanted. Empty promises.  And these people thought that the next 4 years were going to be fun.  Holy Hell, if he keeps caving like this, they'll be the ones shrieking to have him impeached.

St Patty's, wiretapping, and corned beef

Well, it's St. Patty's Day.  My friend Patty was actually born on this day XX years ago.  Is she going to drink any green beer to celebrate?  Probably not.
Remember the Russian woman to whom I sold carpet?  Evidently she's made allegations stating that the "installer" behaved inappropriately.   We suspect this is her attempt to get free carpet.  Interestingly enough, the "installer" called while on the job and complained that she was making him feel uncomfortable with her comments.  And she told me she was only there for a brief period because she had to leave for a doctor's appointment.  We are all getting bad vibes from her.  I suspect she might be a friend of Trump... well, maybe not, just a loser trying to get free carpet.
Anyway, I see the Idiot in Chief has now changed his story, and that he'd heard about the wiretapping on Fox News and read about it in the New York Times... and the GOP is not backing him up.  Of course the guy who wrote the article that set his orange hair ablaze in the first place claims the sources are impeachable.  Which means they're now saying the New York Times is reliable.  These guys need to get their shit in one sock.
And, of course, the Idiot's new budget wants to torch everything Conservatives hate... everything.  The stupid thing is never going to be passed.  DOA.  What surprised me about the cuts was how much Conservatives truly hate society.  They do.  They don't care about health care.  They don't care about things that hold America together, that make a America American.  They are a very two dimensional party, no depth what so ever.
Still, today is St. Patty's day.  And I made a corned beef brisket.

I like corned beef.  I make mine in a crock pot, no boiling here.  I don't like boiled meats,  I don't do a lot of spices either, just an onion and a dash of vinegar.  Oh, and I cut off most of the fat and feed it to the dogs.  They get to celebrate too!